Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 188 focuses on Tashan.

This is why the population of the Fourth Field Army increased rapidly, reaching more than 700,000.

They also controlled 95 percent of the railways in East Peri, as well as 86 percent of the population and 97 percent of the land.

There was no other way. Although the old pheasants still occupied most of the cities in Dongbei, the urbanization rate in Dongbei was not very high. The population was still mostly rural, and the reform was in line with the interests of the vast majority of farmers.

This naturally garnered the support of 86% of the people of Dongbei.

Having gained the advantage in numbers, the Fourth Field Army, under the command of the General, began to prepare for a counterattack.

Of course, the starting point of this counterattack, that is, where to launch the counterattack, is a bit of a headache for the Zongbu side. They have the support to take Changchun first, because Changchun is located in the inner part of Dongbei and is relatively far from other cities occupied by Laozi, so it will be inconvenient to provide support. It is more suitable to besiege the point and attack the reinforcements.

However, attacking Changchun first also has its drawbacks. Although from a local perspective, attacking Changchun first is a sure thing, a sure thing.

However, the downside is that if they take Changchun, it would be like letting Laojing completely get rid of the burden of Changchun, allowing Laojing to make a firm decision to withdraw from Dongbei with his entire army.

Although it appears on the surface that they have occupied Dongbei, in reality, Lao Mi's army has not suffered much damage; its core remains intact.

Therefore, after much hesitation, the Generalissimo decided to attack Jinzhou first, because taking Jinzhou would mean completely cutting off the possibility of Chiang Kai-shek's troops in Dongbei retreating. You have to know that Chiang Kai-shek's troops in Dongbei numbered more than 500,000!

Eliminating those 500,000 people would be equivalent to cutting off one of Lao Zi's hands, while attacking Changchun would only be equivalent to cutting off one of Lao Zi's fingers. Therefore, it is obvious which one to attack first.

Of course, Jinzhou is not so easy to attack. Jinzhou is close to the coast, so it can quickly get support from Lao Ji's troops.

After all, the navy is still very powerful, with a large number of landing ships to transport soldiers, enabling rapid reinforcement.

The best place to land is Tashan, because it's only 35 kilometers from Jinzhou. 35 kilometers is enough to walk there in half a day, let alone by train.

Therefore, the most crucial point in attacking Jinzhou was not Jinzhou itself, but Tashan. If Tashan could not be defended, then Laozi could transport a continuous stream of troops to Jinzhou by sea.

Compared to reinforcing personnel on land, reinforcing them from the sea is naturally much more convenient. First of all, it is impossible to use railways on land, since blowing up railways is too easy.

Therefore, the only option was to march on foot, and at the old man's marching speed, he could only cover a maximum of fifty kilometers a day. However, sea transport was different; even the most ordinary troop transport ship could easily cover fifty kilometers in an hour.

In addition, troop transport ships don't need to rest at night like people do, so traveling a thousand kilometers a day is a piece of cake. Because of this, if Tashan cannot be defended, then Jinzhou will receive a continuous stream of reinforcements.

In that case, the troops attacking Jinzhou would be surrounded on all sides. Not only would they fail to capture Jinzhou, but more importantly, the Fourth Field Army responsible for attacking Jinzhou might also be surrounded and annihilated by the enemy.

Therefore, attacking Jinzhou was like dancing on the edge of a knife. As a result, although the General Headquarters had given instructions to attack Jinzhou, the commander of the Fourth Field Army, who was in charge of the specific operations, was not confident that he could take Jinzhou.

He felt that attacking Changchun was the safest option, so he was hesitant.

Of course, it wasn't just the Fourth Field Army commanders who were indecisive; more importantly, the Third Field Army commanders also had different opinions on Zongbu's decision to let the Third Field Army cross the river.

Then the commander of the Third Field Army said to his deputy:
"Oh dear! I've already assured the General Headquarters, I swear on my life, that the Third Field Army will definitely cross the river. You've seen it all these days, the comrades have been preparing for months! Hey! And here you are, with this audacious statement! How am I supposed to report this to the General Headquarters?!"

In response, the deputy commander of the Third Field Army smiled and said to the commander of the Third Field Army:
"I understand that once a strategic decision has been made by the General Headquarters, we shouldn't easily raise different opinions. However, as a campaign commander, when about to carry out a combat mission assigned by superiors, I should consider the overall situation of the war and combine the local and the overall situation well. Commander, don't you agree?" That's right, the actual commander of the Third Field Army was actually the deputy commander, but the deputy commander felt that he was not qualified enough, so he decided to make himself the deputy commander.

Upon hearing this, the commander immediately replied:

"If that's what you've always thought, then the Third Field Army should fight a battle in Zhongyuan!"

The deputy commander nodded and said:

“That’s right. Considering how the situation has developed over the past few months, I’m even more convinced of this belief.”

Seeing the deputy commander's firm resolve, the commander of the third field army immediately said:
"Alright, the General Manager wants you to report in person, I'll go with you!"

Upon arriving at the headquarters, the headquarters commander addressed the deputy commander of the Third Field Army:

"You said you have a more important reason for not crossing the river for the time being, tell me!"

After hearing the general's words, the deputy commander of the third field army said:
"Commander-in-chief! The old man's army is full of factions, among which the conflict between the man's faction and your faction is the most intense, and your faction now has the covert support of the United States, and its ambitions are even greater!"

In response to the deputy commander of the Third Field Army, the general commander said:

"It's no longer just covert support. With Lee elected vice president, Bai is pushing for a general election plan. The old fox is desperate! He's spending a fortune to stir up the US election in order to protect his precarious position."

In response to the General's words, the Deputy Commander of the Third Field Army nodded and said:

"Because the struggle between the medaka and the noble factions is so fierce, and most of the main force of the remote medaka faction is gathered in Jiangbei, while the Jiangnan region in front of us is dominated by the noble faction, our battle has not yet touched the core of the Guangxi faction."

The deputy commander's words made the general commander think thoughtfully:

"You mean that by not crossing the river first, we can leave the Guangxi clique with some illusions?"

The deputy commander of the Third Field Army immediately nodded and said:

"Yes, Commander, the factional infighting in the military prefers to watch from the sidelines. If we choose to cross the border at this time, we will be actively dragging the Guangxi clique into the vortex of war, making it impossible for them to stay out of it. This will inadvertently lead them to join forces with the old Guangxi clique to fight against us."

The commander also nodded and stood with his comrades:

"First, attack the Ji-type troops to give the Guangxi clique a chance to be spectators."

The deputy commander of the Third Field Army immediately nodded and said:

"That's right, they'll be happy to watch the annihilation of the Miko-type forces, and they might even cheer us on! Our choice to occupy the area north of the river is to keep the enemy on the north bank, divide them up, and then annihilate them."

Thus, after careful consideration by the deputy commander of the Third Field Army, the General Headquarters decided to adopt the deputy commander's opinion and decide not to cross the river first, but to directly annihilate the Ji-type forces on the north side of the river.

(End of this chapter)